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Had a chance to listen to the BXT at a local dealer recently. Wish I hadn’t;) Sonically it is unmistakably a Kii but the differences aren’t subtle. Even better bass, more effortless presentation and a soundstage that is just as high as it is wide. If I had the cash it would be a no brainer.

I moved from a fully activ Linn system (Majik DSM, C6200, Miso’s) to Kii. It’s a good bit of kit but the move to Exakt would have cost me as much as my demo Kii’s. So I sold off all but the DSM. Linn is good as a total system. As individual components...mwah. Needs very careful matching imo.
I purchased an ex demo streamer from a small Dutch company, Audio Aan Zee. Custom built with mostly off the shelf components and a bit of tweaking here and there.
https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/music-server-reviews/audioaanzee-reference-flow-music-server-part1/

After an A/B demo I ended up taking a new streamer home. For me there was an audible difference between my old streamer (Linn Majik DSM) and the new one. Better transients, better control in the low frequencies and a more engageing musical experience( for lack of a better expression). Is it a night and day difference? No, but see it as the icing on the cake. And whenever I get goosebumps I’m sold😁 And the fact that the new streamer can be used as a Roon server also spoke in its favor.
My old Linn is coax out only and the new one USB so that might not be a fair comparison. However I did hear another USB streamer and it sounded distinctly different. Whether better or not is more a matter of personal taste (and wallet) but it was also better than the Linn in terms of musicality.

Thanks for the insights.
I know from own experience that interconnects on the coax connection can make a substantial difference in SQ.
To me it makes no sense opting for a “budget” server/streamer option if you invest 15k in a set of speakers that you know can reveal even subtlest differences. Unless of course the differences with more expensive players is negligeable. Judging from the reactions there’s no clear verdict on the subject. Guess I’ll have to plan a few demo’s.

Interesting, I’m in the market for another music server. My current one feeds with SPDIF and I can hear distinct differences using the coax connection. I dont use Roon yet but am tempted. Hence the need for another server. I’ve heard Antipodes on the Kii over USB and it sounded great. One would expect so for the price tag. But I havent heard any other comparison over usb other than a laptop. But based on your conclusions I could just settle for a Roon Nucleus(+) over say, an Innuos Zenith which the media raves about and save some cash.
Anyone else share the same experience?

With the new filtering options in the Kii you don’t really need a miniDSP or dirac live. You just need to take measurements to determine the worst room modes. And manually create a notch filter with the Kii control for the most troublesome frequencies (usually around 20, 40 and 80hz depending on room size and acoustic treatment). The Kii frequency response curve should measure pretty straight from about 125Hz upwards because of the cardioid dispersion. But this is all icing on the cake. Squeezing the last bit of sonic performance out of the speakers.
Alternatively you could calculate your room modes(there are online tools for that) and experiment with those outcomes by ear. No measurement required but it’s the best way to see the effect of the changes.
For me the adjusting was easy because I could use the calculated room mode correction I still had from my previous Linn system.. They also clearly showed up in the room measurement with REW. I just needed to convert octave bandwidth to Q value for the notch filters. I only had a big bump at 83Hz and a smaller one at 40 that stood out.

@Rubysea I couldn’t agree more that a UMIK-1 is a good investment. Highly recommended if you are serious about your room acoustics. My living/listening room has a few issues the Kii’s can’t fix. I’m having an acoustic ceiling placed to deal with the high reverb time. The Kii’s already do a great job of keeping the lows in check so you don’t need massive bass traps. This played an important part in the WAF😉

It would be nice if Kii would elaborate a bit more on the advanced settings for the less initiated should they choose to try them out. The possibilities really allow you to fine tune the Kii’s and eliminate more of the room than they already do. In that regard you have to hand it to Linn with their sound optimization. Linn really goes into easy understandable detail on the application of notch filters to tackle room modes so you can fine tune their calculated modes and corresponding filters even further.

Worst they could do is introduce sonic changes as most of us have bought these speakers for their sonic performance. I heard that Innuos updated their streamer firmware recently and not everyone was happy about the sonic “improvements”.
I really welcome the addition of notch filters to take care of a troublesome roommode the Kii’s weren’t able to alleviate before.

I sent them a mail last week regarding a preset issue I have (v.0.2). Support said they would officially release the software update and update tool between X-mas and New Year. They probably uploaded a beta version to the website and took it down again. Software update includes Bluetooth activation.
I’m anxious to hear what sound improvements the upgrade will bring.